


tales from hell's kitchen

by pandæmonium (curiocoyote)



Category: Daredevil (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Canon-Typical Violence, Daemon Feels, Daemon Separation, Daemons, Matt Murdock Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-28 05:56:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10075268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiocoyote/pseuds/pand%C3%A6monium
Summary: a drabble a day with moments from the lives of the inhabitants of hell's kitchen and their daemons.





	1. Day 1: Flickering

**Author's Note:**

> "Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner-self' that takes the form of an animal. Dæmons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans. Pre-pubescent children's dæmons can change form voluntarily, almost instantaneously, to become any creature, real or imaginary. During their adolescence a person's dæmon undergoes "settling", an event in which that person's dæmon permanently and involuntarily assumes the form of the animal which the person most resembles in character. Dæmons and their humans are almost always of different genders."
> 
> Matt's daemon is Alstriona, a brown hyena. 
> 
> Day 1: Flickering - 100 Words - A dim room. A singular, flickering light. Maniacal laughter comes from the shadows.

****A single florescent light flickered erratically, somehow surviving even after Matt's billy clubs had smashed through all of the humming light panels in the room. He stepped carefully over the unconscious thugs on the floor, heartbeats slow, broken bones shifting with their breaths. Matt himself cradled two bruised ribs as he made his way to a metal table. He ran a gloved hand over the surface. Papers. Lots of them. He smiled triumphantly- he had found the right warehouse after all.

Eeerie laughter drifted from the shadows and Matt grinned wider as Alstriona padded towards him, the hyena's excitement infectious.


	2. Day 2: Towering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Towering - 200 words - A character gets provoked, the result is a towering rage!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fisk's daemon is Alla, a great grey owl.

Wilson Fisk was generally a collected, soft-spoken man, priding himself on his control. But when he was angry, truly angry, it was sudden, explosive, uncontrollable. 

It was the man in the mask. He was ruining shipments, making people drop out of deals, and he just wouldn't let go. He was like a terrier digging for rats, reckless and relentless. 

Now, he'd ruined a real estate deal by intimidating Fisk's partner to drop out, beating up his men night after night with his fists and black fury. 

Fisk breathed deeply through his nose, his hands clenching into fists on top of the table in front of him. Without warning, he let out a roar and, hooking his fingers under the table, flipped the entire thing effortlessly. The man who'd brought him the news stumbled backwards, a marten winding anxiously around his neck. 

The great grey owl resting on Fisk's shoulder suddenly flapped up into the air, her massive wings broader than his shoulders. With a piercing cry, she dove and neatly snagged the marten in in her claws. The man screamed, hands desperately reaching for the writhing creature even as the talons tightened- 

A cloud of golden Dust filled the air.


	3. Day 3: Stalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Stalk - 100 Words - Oh, don't mind the person outside your window, character. They're just mad about you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt's daemon is Alstriona, a brown hyena.   
> Foggy's daemon is Brisa, a purple swamphen.

Foggy woke up when something thumped on his balcony. He didn't move, wondering if he'd have to pay bills in the afterlife if a burglar murdered him. Brisa pecked him until he stood to go see who or what was outside, grabbing the first object he saw- a yellow umbrella- to use as a weapon if any bludgeoning was required. 

When he threw open the balcony door, a hyena sitting calmly on the balcony turned her sightless eyes to him. 

Foggy lowered the umbrella, immediately looking around for any sign of Matt. 

"He's not here," Alstriona replied.

Foggy's stomach lurched.


	4. Day 4: Awry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Awry - 1000 words - Everything has gone slightly wrong. One of your characters needs to clean things up. The mood today is a touch manic, but we're not in a panic, just a bit frantic. Unfortunately this may not be as easy as it seems. Or is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: warning for some blood in this chapter. 
> 
> I've belatedly added a quote from Wikipedia explaining what daemons are on the first chapter.  
> Also, daemons are usually bound to their humans and they cannot be too far apart without discomfort or even pain. Daemons and humans that are separated are not limited by distance, but it is a bit of a taboo. If you have any questions about daemons, please feel free to ask me! 
> 
> Matt's daemon is Alstriona, a brown hyena.  
> Foggy's daemon is Brisa, a purple swamphen.

Matt didn't break the window on purpose. He thought it was open, but apparently it was the window _next to_ the one he leaped through that was where the flow of air from inside Foggy's apartment came from. After the messy chaos of breaking glass, Foggy's girlish scream from the bedroom and Brisa's alarmed squawking, and the various awakened neighbors, Matt was content to simply place his hands over his ears and lay on his back, distantly reflecting that his blood loss was making him fuzzier than he thought if he couldn't even figure out an open window from a closed one.

"Jesus, Matt, the window!" Foggy said as he stumbled out of his bedroom, his heart beginning to settle down from his rude awakening. He stepped carefully towards Matt, and suddenly his heart rate spiked again. " _Jesus_ , Matt!" he repeated, with more panic.

Matt convinced his hands to stop pressing against his ears in order to help him roll over and stagger to his feet, broken glass crunching under his gloves and boots. He swayed slightly, his senses flickering erratically, picking up random sounds and smells from across the street or on different floors. Usually he was pretty good at controlling what filtered through his senses, but after so much blood loss his mind was fuzzy and difficult to control.

"I'm-" Matt began.

"If you say _okay_ , Matt, I will set Brisa on you," Foggy said firmly.

"I know you don't need your eyes, but I'll still peck them out," Brisa said from the floor, her tone doing a much worse job concealing panic than Foggy's.

Matt slowly crunched over the glass until he reached clear ground, then carefully sat down, hoping that the couch really was located where the air currents were telling him. Luckily, he met softness and solidity rather than empty air and sat down fully with a sigh of relief followed immediately by a groan of pain as the stab wound on his side gave a nasty twinge.

"I swear to god, if you get blood on the couch..." Foggy muttered, crossing the room to Matt. "What's wrong?"

Matt groaned as he reached around to the side of his suit, fumbling with the zipper until he managed to pull it down, then began the delicate process of extracting his arm from his sleeve while not moving the rest of his body as much as possible.

There was a sudden, sharp intake of breath from Foggy.

"Is that a _stab wound_? Matt, you need to go to the hospital! Or Claire!"

"No hospitals," Matt grunted, finally wrestling his arm from his sleeve and letting his suit drop around his waist on one side. "And Claire's in Harlem."

"Why- Nevermind. Uhm. What am I supposed to do?"

Matt stripped off his gloves and began to prod around the sluggishly bleeding wound with his fingers, ignoring Foggy's rapid heart rate and audible swallows. "Get some clean towels, please. At least one soaked with hot water."

"Right," Foggy said, obviously trying his best to sound confident despite his voice shaking. "I'll just- do that-"

He practically ran out of the room, Brisa's quieter steps flopping after him.

Matt pressed one palm over the wound. It wasn't long before Foggy tossed him some soft, floppy object that he easily caught one-handed before pressing the towel to the side of his ribs in favor of his blood-soaked hand, applying as much pressure as he could.

By the time Foggy returned to the couch with more towels and a pot of hot water, Matt was fairly sure the bleeding had mostly stopped, and the rest had cleared his head a little.

"Where's Alstriona?" Foggy asked conversationally, but Matt could hear his heartbeat spike at the mention of Matt's dæmon. Matt didn't blame him. It was a rare person who could think about separation without discomfort and fear.

"Patrolling while I can't," Matt said briefly. Then he smiled a little, laughing dryly. "She's the one who made me go to you instead of just heading straight home."

Matt heard the sound of Foggy's hair moving as he shook his head. "She's always had way more sense than you."

"That's very true," Matt said softly, before reaching for the wet towel Foggy held to clean the wound.

"Nuh-uh, mister!" Foggy said, snatching the towel away. "I'll do it. You are going to sit back and relax. Well, relax as much as you can with an enormous bleeding hole between two ribs."

Matt let out a short laugh and carefully leaned back as Foggy began to carefully dab at the sticky blood coating his skin.

Brisa took the opportunity to flap up to the armrest beside Matt, her tiny heart still hammering, even faster than it beat usually.

There was a moment of silence.

"How did it happen?" she asked, her voice quieter and more unsure than her usual loud, boisterous tone.

"Oh, just some traffickers," Matt said casually. "One of them managed to get a knife in one of the suit's weak spots."

"You know what I mean," she replied, voice regaining some of its usual confidence.

Matt was silent for a few long moments. Foggy's hands had stilled, his heart beating faster again.

He didn't want to respond, didn't want to tell them. But he'd promised to be honest, hadn't he? He wouldn't risk Foggy's friendship again, not after that awful night of Foggy's anger and hurt and betrayal.

"It was my... teacher, I guess you could call him." Matt cleared his throat. "If I was separated, I could do so many more things. I was useful. He- he drove her across the city. It didn't take long, but it felt like forever."

There was a long stretch of silence before Brisa hopped down from the armrest and strode towards Matt, unhesitatingly tucking her body underneath his arm. After a tense moment, all three relaxed.

"You know, you're gonna have to pay for that window," Foggy said wryly.

Matt laughed. "With what money?"

 


	5. Day 5: Delusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Delusion - 100 Words - I swear it wasn't like this yesterday...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how well I stuck to the prompt on this one, but oh well. 
> 
> Matt's daemon is Alstriona, a brown hyena.

Matt couldn't believe it. His mind was telling him that it couldn't be true, that he couldn't be free and on his way to doing the good he'd always dreamed of. But his senses were telling him that he was walking across a grassy campus, students and parents conversing everywhere he turned. Alstriona was almost running beside him, her joy infectious and soothing his own doubts, distracting him from the orphanage. He was really doing this, making his own way in the world. With a sudden smile that hurt somewhere inside, Matt thought about how proud his dad would be.


	6. Day 6: Ophelia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Ophelia - 200 words - A pretty, young character plagued by visions driving them mad, being adorable... and occasionally committing atrocious acts of violence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for very brief mention of violence and blood. 
> 
> Karen's daemon is Galtero, a northern flying squirrel.

There was no warning. Karen was sitting, eating dinner and going over some papers from the office. And then her hands were covered in blood and holding a gun as it kicked in her hands like a live creature and suddenly she was standing, one of her flimsy wooden dining table chairs splintering against the wall and punching a hole in the drywall. She watched the fragmented wooden pieces, all ragged, sharp edges and contrast between the white of the newly exposed wood and dark stain. Slowly, she became aware of her erratic breathing and pain in her hands. She glanced down to see that she'd gotten splinters in her fingers and the flesh of her palms, dark shards under her skin, and suddenly she felt dizzy and sat down hard in her remaining chair. 

Galtero was crouched on the table, tiny claws dug into the grain of the wood, watching her with wide dark eyes. After a moment, he slowly stepped forward and Karen reached a shaking hand out to him so he could crawl on. She let out a long, shuddering breath. He scurried up her arm and curled up in the hollow of her collarbone, grounding her.


	7. Day 7: Miffed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Miffed - 100 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wesley's daemon is Eira, a red fox.

James Wesley prided himself on being a patient man. He was careful to remain impassive, collected, unreadable. But tthe man in the mask, was trying his patience. 

Eira knew just as well as he the importance of maintaining an image of unruffled calm at all times, but sometimes when they stood alone somewhere she couldn't help but express the anger roiling deep within them both, her lips curling back to reveal sharp white canines, her flame colored fur spiked along her back with agitation as she paced and paced and he pretended she appeared as still and calm as he.


	8. Day 8: Deeply

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 8: Deeply - 300 words - Character is truly, madly, deeply in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fisk's daemon is Alla, a great grey owl.   
> Vanessa's daemon is Quilo, a tuatara.

Wilson Fisk liked routine. He enjoyed uniformity, predictability, the calm and peace that clearly drawn lines and schedules and black and white with no shades of grey afforded him. He liked his white home and his black suits and carefully laying out the day ahead of him like chess pieces placed precisely on a board. 

But Vanessa Marianna and her art gallery had sparked something in him, kindled an interest in color and change and chaos that he hadn't felt for a long time. She was all red lips and nails and colorful dresses, her entire being radiating a vitality so intense that it almost blinded him whenever he looked on her. Her dæmon Quilo had pale jade scales and dark crimson eyes that were somehow infinitely more alive than Alla's own pale yellow shine. 

Vanessa was destructuring his life, one moment at a time, with careful words and sharp-edged smiles. He was slowly but surely abandoning his routine, his anchor of familiarity and tradition. And for some odd and unfathomable reason, he didn't care. He welcomed the change, welcomed the new energy and sense of spontaneity. He'd never felt as free as when he was with her, the future unrolling before them like a vivid red carpet, littered with opportunities. Fisk had looked to the future before, of course, but only with concrete, careful plans to make Hell's Kitchen stronger, more organized. He had never felt the particular brand of vicious hope she inspired within him. 

Fisk didn't know what he'd do without her. He'd do anything to stop that from happening. He'd fight a thousand men in masks, dæmonless devils or not, if it meant he could simply stay with her. He'd shed oceans of blood without hesitation. He couldn't lose her. He'd be completely and utterly lost.


	9. Day 9: Hired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 9: Hired - 100 words - Today your character hires a new henchman! They seem... "nice."

Fisk carefully surveyed the man he'd hired after the cursed man in the mask had proved particularly troublesome the previous week. 

His features were unremarkable- the kind of man no one would look at twice on the street, except for one thing. 

He had no dæmon. 

Although the man's killings were widely known among the dark underbelly of society, no one knew when or how he'd lost his dæmon. But the fact remained that it was lost, and so the man had none of the weaknesses or human emotions that the rest of the world possessed. 

Fisk suppressed a shudder.


	10. Day 10: Irritable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 10: Irritable - 100 Words - A tiny thing. Simply minuscule. But it bothers character. It bothers them so badly and they would do anything to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt's daemon is Alstriona, a brown hyena.   
> Foggy's daemon is Brisa, a purple swamphen.

It had been two hours since Matt first came into the office and sat down at his desk, and he was still unable to focus on anything. Alstriona had been simply pacing, restless and distracted.

There was something- takeout?- in the tiny office fridge that had obviously been left there over the weekend, and it smelled _awful_.

The moment that Karen finally left the office to grab a coffee, Matt leaped up from his chair and bolted to the fridge, startling Foggy and Brisa. He pulled out the mess of takeout and promptly threw it out of the open window.


End file.
